Images of the football icon dining cross-legged with a family in rural Telangana, sipping allam chai, strolling outside Uppal stadium or posing with admirers in festive attire flooded timelines. Messi's three-day India visit did more than draw crowds; it triggered an unprecedented wave of artificial intelligence-generated images that blurred the line between reality and imagination.

The frenzy had a clear trigger. Organisers of Messi's India tour announced that a meet-and-greet and a photograph with the footballer would cost ₹10 lakh. For most fans, the price was prohibitive. AI, however, offered a free alternative.

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With carefully worded prompts, users generated remarkably realistic images showing themselves taking selfies or posing casually with Messi. One user went a step further, posting a picture of Messi seemingly holding the phone and taking the selfie himself.

For many scrolling past, the images looked convincing enough to pass off as real. Some users flagged them as AI-generated, while others brushed off scepticism with a now-familiar refrain: "Haters will say it's AI."

Several users openly shared the prompts they fed into AI platforms, explaining how they recreated lighting, angles and settings to make the images believable. Others stayed silent, allowing speculation to swirl over whether the pictures were genuine or cleverly fabricated.

Amid the flood of AI-generated imagery, authentic photographs struggled to stand out. A handful of individuals did post genuine pictures with Messi from his India tour between December 13 and 15, which took him to Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi. The Times of India verified some of these images, and AI platforms confirmed their authenticity.

Yet the irony was stark. Many AI-generated images were so convincing that even AI tools hesitated to give a definitive verdict on whether they were real or fabricated.

One post neatly captured the mood. "Messi craze. ₹10 lakh worth pic," a Hyderabad-based techie wrote while sharing an image of herself posing with the footballer. When asked where it was taken, she replied, "It was a low-key appearance, I can't reveal that." Another user quickly pointed out a flaw: Messi's jersey had two stars instead of three, even though Argentina's kit has carried three stars since the 2022 World Cup win.

Real or unreal?

In some cases, even AI appeared unsure. One fan posted a picture showing himself with Messi and Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy inside a stadium, with policemen visible in the background. The prompt used to generate the image was shared online. An AI platform described all elements as plausible but stopped short of confirming whether the image was authentic.

There were clearer cases too. One person claimed he had taken a selfie with Messi in Argentina three years ago, well before the India tour. A quick AI check dismissed the image as fake.

As Messi's India moment played out online, reality and imagination collided, with AI making it harder than ever to tell them apart. The images also generated considerable mirth on social media, prompting jokes and debates over whether authentic selfies were worth the steep ₹10 lakh fee when AI could deliver near-perfect replicas at no cost.